The present invention relates to fishing lure dressings and, in particular, to an elastomer retainer for containing varieties of dressings to a lure, including multi-filament skirts and rattles. The retainer may form a portion of the dressing, such as a rattle housing.
A growing appreciation of the significance of vibration and sound as an attractant to fish has led to the development of numerous so-called "rattle" lures. Such lures are constructed with relative ease from plastic. Cavities or "sound chambers" are constructed into the lure body and contain a number of beads. With normal lure retrieval and body action, the contained beads strike the lure body to create audible sounds and/or vibrations which are perceptible by a preferred predator fish species.
A variety of other lure types constructed of elastomer materials have also been adapted to accommodate discreet rattles. Elastomer lures are typically molded to imitate natural bait species, for example, worms, crayfish, frogs, and salamanders. The discreet rattles developed for these lures provide a shaped housing which contains one or more beads. The housings are constructed of plastic, blown glass, and extruded or formed metals. The housing shape is formed to permit insertion of the rattle into a lure body at prepared cavity spaces. Alternatively, the rattle may be inserted substantially anywhere within the soft bodied material, upon piercing the body with the rattle.
Other lure constructions which constitute a significant portion of the market are wire form spinner lures and molded jig lures. These lures typically provide a molded lead body which may be formed to a stainless steel wire. A multi-filament elastomer skirt is typically mounted to the body with a single bore, elastomer band commonly referred to as a "skirt collar," such that the filaments radiate about the lure body.
Although the foregoing lures have proven effective for catching fish, wire form and molded bodied jigs do not readily accommodate the inclusion of a sound source, such as a rattle. The subject invention therefore seeks to efficiently adapt such lures to sound. A modular assembly has particularly been developed for containing discreet and integral sound chambers to the molded bodies of these lures.